SingTel and Optus' local mobile and fixed-line services are to be centrally managed from August 1 2003. Optus managing director Bill Hope will head up management of the merged operation in a new role as SingTel executive vice president, networks.
A SingTel spokesperson said that the company could not foresee staff redundancies in Singapore or Australia but that it was possible that the company may review duplicate functions in each operation.
The company said it was too early to tell if or whether sectors of the company would need to be redispersed as a result of the merger.
According to the spokesperson, having a single manager overseeing both operations will help the business identify cost savings. He said one area the company could reduce costs in was the joint issuing of tender requests.
The centralisation of the domestic network operations follows a parallel merger of Optus and SingTel's international services divisions two years ago.
